AustLit
In the K'gari bushland today lie the graves of Aboriginal people. These were people forcibly removed from their own countries all over Queensland in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
These people were institutionalised within the Bogimbah mission, which was located on K'gari (Fraser Island). This removal initiative was a result of Queensland's 1897 Act (called the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act). Ostensibly well meaning, it conveniently offered white colonists unfettered access to Aboriginal land.
By 1904 (only four years after the Bogimbah Mission was established), more than half of its inhabitants had died.
It is an unassuming patch of bushland like this one above where their bodies lie.
K'gari and the Missions, 1872-1904
How did the missions established on K’gari, 1872-1904, impact Aboriginal people?
by Louise Martin-Chew
Reverend Fuller established the first mission at Ballargan on K’gari’s west coast in 1872.[1] He was a sad witness to the declining Aboriginal population within the mission, where Aboriginals from all areas were quarantined. In 1872 he wrote a long private letter from Ballargan that was subsequently published in the Brisbane newspaper, “there are, I think, not more than 300 blacks, and yet there are no less than 19 distinct tribes. But strong drink and disease, introduced among them by ungodly white people, have made such havoc among them that the tribal bond, in many instances, is almost obliterated.”[2]
The statistics are bald and shocking. By 1880 annual blanket distribution recorded only 230 Aboriginals, which is ten per cent of the estimated population some forty years before.[3] Less than twenty years later, in 1897, those who remained were removed to the mission on K’gari, Bogimbah Creek Reserve. A few, perhaps a handful, evaded capture, by hiding out in remote parts of the island.
In 1904, Bogimbah was abandoned after almost half the mission inhabitants died. Of the 168 remaining inmates (from all over Queensland), 117 went north to Yarrabah, 30 went south to Durundur and the remaining 20, from K’gari, were left to find their own way. The Badtjala nation was devastated. Joan Winter noted that “where once was paradise and a vibrant lively culture, there was silence and overwhelming loss”.[4]
What do newspaper reports of the time tell us about Bogimbah Mission?
Research by Matthew Wengert.
'The Fraser Island Blacks', long article about visit by Lord and Lady Brassey, trouble at Mission, mentions Superintendent Purvis being suspended and replaced by Harold Meston (Archibald Meston’s son) - The Maryborough Chronicle 6.10.1897
‘The Fraser Island Trouble’: Visit to Island by Lord Brassey, Victorian Governor; drunkeness at Bogimbah Camp; reported to Maryborough police - The Brisbane Courier 16.10.1897
Government visitors at Bogimbah Settlement - The Maryborough Chronicle 26.6.1899
Lady Lamington visits Bogimbah - The Maryborough Chronicle 11.7.1899
Visit to Fraser's [sic] Island: Governor, Premier and Home Secretary visit Fraser Island Mission Station - The Western Champion (Barcaldine) 26.9.1899
'Aboriginals Protection Act, Second Reading Carried' - The Brisbane Courier 27.9.1899
Bogimbah Mission, Letter-to-Editor by W. Reeves (Superintendent?) - The Maryborough Chronicle 22.1.1900
Letter-to-Editor: Transfer of Bogimbah Mission control from Government to Anglican Board of Missions - The Brisbane Courier 17.1.1900
'Fraser Island Management': Archibald Meston, Protector of Aborigines for South and Central Queensland, visits Fraser Island - The Brisbane Courier 10.2.1900
'Fraser Island - Establishment of Mission Station': Rev. E. Gribble visits Bogimbah Mission - The Brisbane Courier 17.2.1900
'Fraser Island - History of the Settlement' - The Brisbane Courier 10.3.1900
'Queensland Aboriginals. Efforts for Improvement': Lecture by Rev. E. Gribble about Anglican Mission work in Queensland with focus on Fraser Island and Yarrabah missions - The Telegraph 6.4.1900
'Aboriginal Mission on Fraser Island. New Buildings Necessary' - The Telegraph 26.6.1900
'Deaths of Aboriginals': Legislative Assembly - The Telegraph 15.12.1900
7 Bogimbah men take boat to mainland - The Maryborough Chronicle 6.2.1901
Bogimbah men drown - The Morning Bulletin Rockhampton 8.5.1901
Inquiry into Bogimbah drownings - The Maryborough Chronicle 30.5.1901
‘Treatment of Aboriginals': Superintendent Anderson protests about reports of poor food supply - The Week 2.8.1901
Trip to Bogimbah by Maryborough people - The Maryborough Chronicle 29.10.1901
'Hailstorm at Bogimbah', Superintendent Anderson describes damage to buildings - The Week 31.1.1902
'Fraser Island Mission': Two years since Anglican Board of Missions took over - The Brisbane Courier 5.2.1902
'The Aboriginal Question in Queensland: How it is being dealt with' - Queensland Country Life 1.7.1902
'Aboriginal Missions. Yarrabah and Fraser Island Mission Stations': Rev. Gribble interview in Brisbane - The Brisbane Courier 23.8.1902
'The Bogimbah Mission Station': Maryborough lecture by Bogimbah Superintendent Captain Kent - The Maryborough Chronicle 20.10.1903
'Missions to the Aboriginals - Probably Abandonment of Fraser Island': Rev. Gribble discussed proposal to take 100 Aboriginals to Yarrabah - The Brisbane Courier 23.3.1904
Bogimbah store break-in: Hearing and sentencing of Aboriginal man 'Spider' - The Brisbane Courier 28.4.1904
'Fraser Island': closing of Anglican Mission Station - The Brisbane Courier 4.8.1904
'Fraser Island Blacks': Legislative Assembly - The Telegraph 6.9.1905
'Fraser Island Aboriginals': Archibald Meston disputes number of deaths - The Brisbane Courier 7.9.1905